Tag: 1986

Armada – All Four One – 1986

Armada was/is a hard rock band out of Michigan. They formed in 1975 under the name Archangel and also appear to have used the name Prophet Song before settling on Armada. This was their demo and was sold in cassette form at their concerts. It is a fantastic hard rock album. If you read my reviews you know that often I am critical of self produced albums/demos. Not on this one though. The production isn’t super polished, but that’s a good thing. This is a raw Rock & Roll band and this demo captures that sound perfectly. They have re-released this album on CD but this is a copy of the cassette reworked as best I could. I see that they are occasionally referred to as a Metal band but they aren’t really and as I said this is good old Rock & Roll album. I think the lead track could have singled on secular radio, but of course it wouldn’t have due to the usual religious paranoia of radio at the time.

Tracklist
1 – Let God’s People Go
2 – Witness
3 – Turn Around
4 – Streetwise
5 – Rock’n
6 – Shelter
7 – You’d Better Believe It
8 – Cutting It Close
9 – Turning Point

Credits
Lead Vocals – Rick Ledesma
Lead & Rhythm Guitars – Dave Dawdy
Bass Guitar – Randy Carlson
Drums, Lead Vocals – John Heald
Produced, Engineered, Mixed – Mark Miller

Emerald – Armed for Battle – 1986

Emerald were a Metal group out of Southern California. They formed in 1978 but didn’t get a recording out until this EP in 1986. Somehow the band were able to save up (or were gifted) $13,000 to record this EP. The result is actually quite stunning for that budget. The album measures up to any Metal album of the time. In fact it is much better than many label based Metal albums. Normally I am terrified of self produced albums but not this one. But it’s not just the production that is good but these guys are really really good. As far as I can tell the album was self published and distributed. The number of pressings appears to be a matter of argument but suffice to say it was small with copies of the original pressing fetching in excess of $500 at the time of this writing. Luckily there has been several re-pressings and a CD version is available now. If you like Metal and you’ve never heard this EP you need to give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Tracklist
1 – Armed For Battle – 4:10
2 – Teenage Suicide – 7:45
3 – We Attack – 3:52
4 – Look To The Stars – 5:07
5 – Winds Of Doom – 7:09
6 – Judgement Day – 4:14

Credits
Arranged By, Producer – Emerald
Bass – Joe Palma
Drums, Synthesizer – Kyle Morrett
Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Dave Enos
Lead Vocals – Larry Philips

Chris Christian With Whiteheart – Live At Six Flags – 1986

When I started working on this album I was looking forward to it as I thought it was Whiteheart at Six Flags. FULL STOP!! It’s not. This is “Chris Christian” with Whiteheart – Live At Six Flags. I wonder how many people bought this album by mistake believing it was just Whiteheart. The album came out the same year so the confusion could be understood. If they did make the error I can only imagine their horror at what they had bought. Now this isn’t a bad album, in fact it’s a very good album but it’s just that it’s a more easy listening oriented album. Not anything at all you would expect from Whiteheart. I’m guessing it was recorded at the same concert as the Whiteheart album. This rather odd pairing came from the fact that Chris Christian did not have a regular band so I am guessing he talked Whiteheart into backing for him. Whiteheart were on the label that Christian owned, Home Sweet Home Records. Anyway, as I said it’s a good album best described as a slightly up tempo Easy Listening album.

Tracklist
1 – Put Your Trust – 3:18
2 – Make A Joyful Noise – 2:28
3 – Love Them While We Can – 3:26
4 – Mountain Top – 3:27
5 – Gospel Medley – 5:59
6 – Satisfaction Guaranteed – 2:57
7 – Praise The Lord – 3:05
8 – Second Chance – 3:12
9 – Look How Far You’ve Come – 3:03
10 – Pop Medley – 7:03
11 – Sail On – 2:28
12 – Get Back To The Bible – 4:45
13 – Why Does The Devil Have All The Good Music – 3:53

One-Eighty – One Eighty – 1986

I don’t know much about 180 but I do know they came from Castro Valley, CA. They have this EP and a full length album. There is also a Demo I am hoping to get our hands on. The EP is a nice progressive sound that fit’s perfectly with 1986. Keyboardist Ralph Otteson continues making music to this day currently with a group called Time Horizon.

Tracklist
1 – Hold On – 3:48
2 – Search – 3:48
3 – When You Believe – 4:34
4 – It’s All I Need – 3:27

Credits
Rich Reif – vocals, keyboards
Ralph Otteson – keyboards, backing vocals
Todd Peterson – guitars, backing vocals
Allen White – bass, guitars
Don Walker – drums

Geoff Moore – Over The Edge – 1986

This is the second album from Geoff Moore and it’s a great Rock/Pop album with some excellent songs. The treat of the album is a rocking cover of Larry Norman’s “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music”. The album is a collection of great CCM musicians including, Billy Smiley, Gary Lunn, Mark Gersmehl, and Dann Huff from Whiteheart. Dan Huff’s guitar work is easily recognizable and I think his influence is what makes the album lean more Rock than Pop.

Tracklist
1 – Tear Down The Walls – 3:55
2 – Marianne – 4:08
3 – Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music – 4:03
4 – Lost Or Found – 4:15
5 – Over The Edge – 3:52
6 – Make Up Your Mind – 4:18
7 – Love The One You Live In – 4:28
8 – Rock Steady Believers – 3:50
9 – Tough Love – 4:16
10 – Nothing But Holy – 3:34

Credits
Chuck Bentley – Songwriter
Thomas Dorsey – Keyboards
James Isaac Elliott – Songwriter
Mark Gersmehl – Songwriter, Keyboards
Dann Huff – Guitars
Gary Janney – Background Vocals
Phil Johnson – Songwriter
Bryan Kennedy – Background Vocals
Gordon Kennedy – Songwriter, Guitars, Background Vocals
Shelby Kennedy – Background Vocals
Brent King – Recorded, Mixed, Background Vocals
Gary Lunn – Bass
Marty McCall – Background Vocals
Chris McHugh – Drums
Terry McMillan – Percussion
Geoff Moore – Songwriter, Vocals
Phil Naish – Songwriter
Larry Norman – Songwriter
David Pierce – 2nd Engineer
Gary Pigg – Background Vocals
Mary Lynn Robbins – Recorded
Tom Roudy – Percussion
John Slick – Keyboards
Billy Smiley – Producer, Songwriter, Arranger, Keyboards, Background Vocals
James Stroud – Drums, Tamborine
Arlin Troyer – Background Vocals
Hank Williams – Mastered

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Power Discs
Copyright (c) – Power Discs
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – Center Stage Studio
Mixed At – Center Stage Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.
Published By – Word Music (2)
Published By – Glenwood Music Corp.
Published By – Straw Bed Music
Published By – Lifesong Music Press
Published By – Hall-Clement Publications
Published By – Yellow Jacket Music, Inc.
Published By – Laurel Press
Published By – Pamela Kay Music
Published By – Justin Time Music

Charizma – Turn Me On 7″ Single – 1986

Charizma is another excellent Metal band out of Sweden. This single features “Turn Me On” was unreleased at the time (Later showed up as a bonus track on a CD re-release of Rock The World) and the B Side is from their album, “Rock The World”.

Tracklist
Side A – Turn Me On – 4:11
Side B – Try It (Feel The Love) – 4:20

Rich Mullins – Rich Mullins – 1986

Mullins started his music career while attending Cincinnati Bible College in the late 70’s forming a band called Zion (Not the heavy metal Zion). They released a demo in 1981 called “Behold The Man”. On that demo was a song “Praise to the Lord”. This is where it all took off for Mullins. Amy Grant ended up picking up the song and used it on her hit album Age To Age. As a result of Amy’s huge hit Mullins decided to start a solo career. This was his first album on his own and it was a lot more uptempo than his previous work. It was very very well received and it’s Pop sound was played heavy on Christian Radio. Unfortunately on September 19, 1997 Rich passed from this world in a automobile accident.

Tracklist
1 – A Few Good Men – 3:45
2 – A Place To Stand – 4:10
3 – Live Right – 4:34
4 – New Heart – 3:10
5 – Elijah – 4:37
6 – Nothing But A Miracle – 4:06
7 – Both Feet On The Ground – 3:41
8 – These Days – 3:35
9 – Prisoner – 3:27
10 – Save Me – 2:50

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Kent Hunter, Thomas Ryan Design
Bass – Gary Lunn
Drums – Keith Edwards
Engineer – J.B.
Engineer [Assistant] – Billy Whittington, Keith Penny, Spencer Chrislu
Executive-Producer – Brown Bannister, Dan Harrell, Michael Blanton
Guitar – Greg Jennings
Keyboards, Piano – Phil Naish
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Synclavier] – Reed Arvin
Management – Gay Quisenberry
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Reed Arvin
Sleeve Notes – Amy Grant
Vocals – Amy Grant, Billy Crockett, Chris Harris (2), Chris Rodriguez, Mark Heimermann

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Reunion Records
Copyright (c) – Reunion Records
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Riverstone Studio
Published By – Meadowgreen Music Company
Published By – Edward Grant, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Made By – Allied DT

Morgan Cryar – Fuel On The Fire – 1986

Morgan Cryar’s fourth album turned it up the Rock and Roll knob another notch. The top single was “Pray in the USA. This song was an anthem at the time and spoke out at the problem of removing prayer from Schools. Strangely the song did not chart on the CCM charts but it just wasn’t mellow enough. Several other songs did single on the CCM charts. All in all this is a very very good album and Pray in the USA in particular filled a empty space in Christian music due to it’s Springsteenish sound.

Tracklist
1 – Pray In The USA
2 – I’m Not Alone
3 – Underneath Your Feet
4 – I Gotta Know
5 – I Need The Rock
6 – Break The Chain
7 – Sibling Rivalry
8 – Under The Rug
9 – Strength Of The Weak
10 – Hideaway

Credits
Bass – Doug Pinnick
Drums – John Andrew Schreiner
Guitar – Ty Tabor
Producer – Roy Salmond
Vocals – Morgan Cryar

Charlie Peacock – Charlie Peacock – 1986

This was supposed to be Charlie’s breakthrough album that was supposed to solidify his secular presence. Unfortunately that didn’t work out. A&M bailed on the album and it eventually ended up on Island records. Island was unable to properly promote the album so it didn’t have any secular success. One of the stranger production ideas was to include the single from his previous album, “Lie Down In The Grass” on this album. All in all the record companies all screwed up what should have been a top 40 album. The beats and synth were perfect for the time and the album was easily as good as anything on the radio at the time. Oh well it’s left for us to enjoy, what a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Message Boy – 4:11
2 – Counting The Cost – 4:12
3 – Down In The Lowlands – 5:02
4 – Lie Down In The Grass – 3:22
5 – It’s No Surprise – 4:16
6 – Dizzy Dean Movie – 3:37
7 – Forever Strangers – 3:25
8 – I Will Need Your Help – 3:21
9 – My People – 3:25
10 – Conversing With Mercy – 5:09

Credits
Artwork, Design, Layout – Marty Gessler
Co-producer – Brent Bourgeois (tracks: A2, A3, A5, B1 to B4), Charlie Peacock (tracks: A2, A3, A5, B1 to B4)
Coordinator [Executive Coordinator] – Jan Volz
Engineer – Daryl Zachman, Nigel Gray
Engineer [Assisted By In Leatherhead] – Jim Ebdon, Martin Heyes
Executive-Producer – Mary Neely
Mastered By [Digitally] – Brian Gardner
Mixed By – Nigel Gray
Orchestrated By, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Brent Bourgeois, Charlie Peacock
Photography By – Michael Jang
Photography By [Assistance] – Steve Holsapple
Photography By [Collage] – Ken Friedman, Michael Jang, Rich Pedroncelli
Producer – Charlie Peacock (tracks: A1, A4, B5), Nigel Gray (tracks: A2, A3, A5, B1 to B4)
Songwriter [All Songs Written By], Performer [Performed By] – Charlie Peacock

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – ATCO Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Exit Records (6)
Copyright (c) – Exit Records (6)
Recorded At – Exit Studios (2)
Recorded At – Surrey Sound Studios
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Edited At – Digital Magnetics
Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation
Published By – Blackwood Music Inc.
Published By – Western Sierra Music
Published By – Andi Beat Goes On Music
Published By – Dayspring Music

Kim Boyce – Kim Boyce – 1986

This was Kim’s first solo album. She had appeared as a background singer and touring singer for many artists including Russ Taff and Joe English. The album has a nice female pop sound and is what was coming out at the time so it’s not overly creative. It spawned 4 singles which is quite an achievement really. The single “Here” made it to #1. Some Kim trivia is that she was Miss Florida in 1983 and competed for Miss America in 1984.

Tracklist
1 – Love Resurrection – 4:11
2 – Darkened Hearts – 4:02
3 – Here – 4:48
4 – That’s How You Touched My Heart – 3:36
5 – Love Knows – 3:38
6 – Sing And Dance – 3:19
7 – You Are The One – 3:18
8 – I Want His Heart – 3:37
9 – How Will They Remember? – 4:40